Fairy Tale Wars BIG Variant Covers ANNOUNCEMENT!
Find out what we have in store for our BIG crossover summer blockbuster event!
Hello Lifeline Comics Readers!
We’ve been quietly teasing FAIRY TALE WARS (our EverAfterVerse Crossover Event) for months. Now it’s time to finally reveal some of the awesome Variant Covers we have for the event launching later this summer!
We'll also give YOU, our readers, a chance to help us decide what the next chapter of Nightmare in Wonderland will be!
And finally, we’ll run through the lessons we learned from our last Pride Events for June 2026, talk about our recent excursions (including a Cowboy Party and Titanique on Broadway), and discuss new releases Supergirl, Girls Like Girls, and Leviticus.
Let’s dive in!
Unveiling FAIRY TALE WARS Covers!
Phil: In case you missed the news, FAIRY TALE WARS — the HUGE EverAfterVerse Crossover Event comic between our Mature Dark Fairytale series The Beast & Snow, Nightmare in Wonderland, and The Witches of Oz — is launching later this summer!
And ahead of this huge event, we’re revealing some of the awesome Variant Covers we’ll have for the four-part Crossover Event comic!
We’re pulling out all the stops for Fairy Tale Wars, with covers from legends like Terry Moore, Tula Lotay, Dan Mendoza, Xong Bros, Sweeney Boo, and MORE! Let’s unveil a handful of them!
TULA LOTAY - “Snow vs. Alice”
Ario Anindito - “EverAfterVerse Heroes”
DAN MENDOZA - “Vampire & Witch Zombie Tramps”
TERRY MOORE - “The Evil Queen and a DRAGON?!”
We hope you enjoyed this preview of some covers from the upcoming Crossover Event! Let us know your favorite of the bunch in the comments and on social media!
Fairy Tale Wars Part 1 launches on Kickstarter on August 10th! You can follow the Pre-Launch Page below to be notified when we go live!
If you’ve enjoyed any of our EverAfterVerse series up to this point, then we know you’re going to love Fairy Tale Wars!
Vote on the Next Chapter of Nightmare in Wonderland!
When Nightmare in Wonderland is eventually collected as a Trade Paperback, we’ll be including a brand new short story in the collection as bonus content.
While this Trade probably won’t be released until mid-2027, we have to plan these sorts of things far in advance. And we’re torn on exactly what type of bonus chapter we’d like to tell, so we thought it would be fun to let our readers decide!
Using the below-linked poll, decide whether you’d like to see:
A Flashback story about Alice’s time as an assassin
An Origin Story for the mysterious Queen of Hearts
A short adventure in Wonderland (set after the series, but before the Fairy Tale Wars Crossover)
Bi Bi Bi Live Stream
Kat: One of our favorite things to do when launching a comic book anthology is bringing all these creators together for one live steam. It gives us the opportunity to meet these wonderful creators face to face, and really put a spotlight on individual stories.
We did the same for Bi Bi Bi, and if you missed the LIVE show you can still check out the rewatch.
Phil: While the Kickstarter campaign for Bi Visibility: Bi Bi Bi ended yesterday (unlocking all of our Stretch Goals!), you can still grab the non-campaign-exclusive rewards via Late Pledges!
TUESDAY: Sink Your Teeth In #1-2: Mature Sapphic Noir Chicago Vampire
Fulfillment for the first issue of our Noir Vampire series written by Zoe Tunnell with art by Lauren Knight just wrapped yesterday! And we’re wasting no time before jumping into the exciting continuation of the miniseries!
“An undead PI hunts a missing vamp, facing ancient Mob Families, corrupt cops, and a past she buried to survive.”
Whether you loved the first issue or are discovering the series for the first time, you should definitely check out Sink Your Teeth In #1-2 when it launches on Tuesday, July 7th!
Follow the page below to make sure you don’t miss out on Early Bird Discounts AND a Limited-Edition Variant Cover only available for the First 48 Hours of the campaign!
Pride Events
Phil: Pride Month went out with a bang! Let’s discuss our last few Pride Events of June!
Signing at East Side Mags
Kat: East Side Mags has quickly become one of our favorite comic stores. It has some of the best community vibes I’ve seen from any shop (and I’ve been to a lot).
So we couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a Pride event. Originally, the signing was supposed to be a Witching Season launch, but due to the books being delayed we decided to make it a queer event with some of the most lovely people in comics including: Heather Antos, Michele Abounader, Zoe Tunnell, and Jadzia Axelrod.
Life gets busy. So it was fun to just hang out with each other in the same room for a few hours.
Capital Pride (Washington DC)
Phil: Since 2023, Capital Pride in Washington D.C. has always been our strongest Pride Event of the year. Other big Pride events have come close to the same revenue/profit numbers, but Capital Pride always inched out the rest in 2023-2025.
And while we still consider Capital Pride 2026 to be a success, this did end up becoming our lowest-grossing year for Washington D.C., dropping the event to our third-most successful Pride event of the month).
We believe that this largely comes down to placement. Anyone who has tabled at Conventions and other events knows how important placement can be as a factor. But as important as placement is, where exactly you’re placed at an event is almost always out of your control.
We’ve gotten lucky enough in past years to be on the main street in high-traffic areas. This year, we were more on the outskirts of the event. Because there’s a high attendance for the Pride, we still got a decent amount of traffic. But definitely a lot less than in previous years.
When you’re consistently doing events, lack of control over placement is just an element you have to deal with. Some years for some events, you’re going to have a great spot. Other years, you might have a middling or bad spot. And while we might try to request a particular location next time around, we also are grateful that even in a less-ideal location we were able to turn a profit at the event.
And even more grateful for all of the wonderful interactions we got at the event. The nice thing about huge events like Capital Pride is that you get a healthy mix of new and returning faces. We got to see customers from previous years who not only remembered and enjoyed our content, but who got their friends into our comics!
Combine those interactions with making a ton of new fans — both folks completely unfamiliar with our work and folks who were already fans of our Webtoons and who we got to meet in person for the first time — and it’s hard not to have a good time!
NYC Pride
Kat: NYC is our hometown pride, and one of our favorites to vend at, but over the years the show has gotten more and more expensive to table at. We still make a solid profit because our comic book library keeps growing, but it’s a similar profit to a mid-sized show because there is so much money you have to make back first.
For reference, this is how much the price has risen in the last 5 years for the spot alone:
2022: $800
2023: $1000
2024-2026: $1500
Plus we have to pay for COI, Parking, and Help each year. Imagine if you also had to pay for travel arrangements?!
We may be biased, but this is still one of our favorite prides because NYC is one of the best cities in the world. We were neighbors to 711’s slurpee and only a few steps away from trying Coke’s newest products for free.
The biggest highlight was stopping by Mixue, a bubble tee and ice cream chain, right down the block. FUN FACT: it's so popular in Asia that it has more storefronts than Mcdonald’s worldwide. And it was very much worth the hype! I’m not a huge fan of vanilla ice cream, but they had a vanilla/strawberry treat that blew me away. It was also nice to be able to customize the amount of sugar you wanted for your bubble tea.
Mixue creates an experience! Playing the same addictive song on repeat and forming a true culture.
What else have we been up to?
Events outside of all the Pride Festivals, we’ve been running around to all sorts of different events these last few weeks!
Arman’s Birthday Party
Kat: We met Arman (Publisher at Submarine Playhouse) a few years ago at a comic con, and quickly became friends. It’s nice to be able to hang out and talk shop to people who do the same thing as you and live in a similar place.
He threw a Cowboy themed birthday party, and only for Arman would we dress up, but here we are dressed up as cowboys. It was a nice night to catch up with friends and experiment with our looks.
Titanique
Phil: Titanique is a show that’s been on our radar for a while now. Titanic is my husband Julius’ favorite movie. We’ve always heard great reviews for the show. And with Melissa Barrera (Screams 5-6) and Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) in the cast right now, we finally grabbed ourselves some tickets and made our way to the theater.
Titanique is a grand, goofy, gay, good time — the kind of show where every single line is a zinger of some sort and where the audience was in a state of constant laughter.
The jokes that related to the Titanic film itself (whether commenting on the film or making an absurdist change to it) were the ones that landed the most consistently. Also strong were the jokes relating to the actors in this production of Titanique (two well-placed Scream and Big Bang Theory jokes were highlights of the show). But the jokes that were more random (i.e. nonsensical Mario/Luigi, Cha Cha Slide, Chicago references) tended not to land as well for me.
The lead performance of Celine Dion (on board the Titanic) was a major highlight. Dion’s character is used just the right amount in the show, always jumping in with a hilarious line or a musical number. And there are several moments of ad-libbing for Dion with the audience that were absolutely hilarious. Some of the best audience play I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in a live performance.
Kat: I’m not a hardcore Titanic or Celine Dion fan, but Titanique is just silly enough for a fun time on Broadway. Once an Off-Broadway musical, Titanique is an off the wall show that never would have made it to Broadway a few years ago - but glad to see it now.
Not all the jokes land, and Celine’s original renditions of the songs are better in almost every account, but the ridiculousness of Celine following the cast of the Titanic is just zany enough to work with actors like Jim Parsons and Melissa Barrera truly selling these moments.
PS - Make more Broadway shows less than 2 hours!
Media
Let’s discuss some non-comics media!
Supergirl
Kat: Growing up, I remember scouring long boxes to find more Supergirl comics. I loved all the different iterations of her, and how she was truly able to evolve throughout the decades. Not every season landed, but I was pretty satisfied by Kara’s depiction on the CBS/CW run of the character. So, did we need another so soon after?
Five years later, Supergirl flies onto the big screen adapting Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. I’ll be honest, this isn’t my favorite version of the character. It leaned way too heavily on her early 2000’s angst and I could never get behind drunk Supergirl. BUT there were a ton of people who did like it, and I was happy for those fans to get their adaptation of Supergirl.
Milly Alcock IS a good Supergirl. She balances spunk with all of the things that make Supergirl relatable. She’s just stuck in a boring movie. Kara has a lot of interesting comic villains - Livewire, Silver Banshee, etc. Krem just doesn’t have the same punch as some of these other characters. He feels more like a villain of the week than a big bad for a feature length movie. And what’s a superhero film without a good antagonist?
Let’s be honest - Supergirl underperformed, but if Thor can have a few movies to figure out his side of the playground, can’t we give Kara a second chance too?
Phil: The discourse surrounding Supergirl is a real mess, to the point where I simultaneously don’t want to engage with it and feel like one has to engage with it. I think two things are certain: (1.) There are camps of people who were ready to tear this movie apart regardless of its actual quality and are now doing a lot of bad-faith criticism, and (2.) Supergirl as a film wasn’t for everyone (including those who saw it in good faith, not ready to tear it apart).
On the positive side, Millie Alcock does a great job in the role as Kara Zor-El. While “drunk Supergirl” isn’t my favorite iteration of the character, I thought Alcock and the script did a good job of finding the humanity and hurt beneath the character and making sure she stayed true to the core of who Supergirl is. And the movie is at its best when it’s actually a Supergirl movie (i.e. when we see Kara with Clark; when we flashback to Kara’s life before the destruction of her home).
Unfortunately, most of the runtime is…not this. Most of the runtime is pretty generic planet-hopping Sci-Fi with a one-note sidekick character and a zero-note villain. There are moments I enjoy during these sections. But by-and-large, a lot of Supergirl ended up feeling forgettable and even boring. In addition to the bland Sci-Fi setting, it didn’t help that Kara spends a large chunk of the movie depowered and an even larger chunk not in costume.
Jason Momoa’s Lobo was fun…but didn’t really add much to the movie. In another movie that had more exciting things going on, I don’t think Lobo would even warrant much of a mention in my review.
All that said, Supergirl definitely isn’t the worst comic book movie out there. There are solid moments sprinkled throughout. And Kara, herself, is endearing. I’m excited to see more of her in the DCU — hopefully a lot more as Supergirl, herself.
Leviticus
Phil: Leviticus was a hotly-anticipated release for me. From the moment I first learned about the film, I was eager to make my way to the theater. It’s not often that we get theatrically-released gay horror, after all. And early reviews often likened the film to It Follows — one of my favorite horror movies of all time. Needless to say, I was stoked.
The biggest strengths of Leviticus are the chemistry of its leads and its scares. Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen bring an effortless chemistry to their roles right from their first scene. Even with the danger their relationship brings (both from their community and from the demon stalking them), the performances perfectly convey the impossibility of these two boys staying away from one another. Even in the moments where I felt like the actual film under-writes their relationship, the acting made me root for them.
The demonic presence stalking the two boys is very successfully scary. Stacy Clausen does a phenomenal job of embodying the hateful monster and giving it both a deceptive warmness (when it’s trying to impersonate his character) and a vicious physicality (when it drops the pretenses). The film only ever shows us the demon from Naim’s perspective, but I do wish we’d gotten to see both of their POVs.
Outside of the scares and the leads’ chemistry, Leviticus isn’t quite as thematically rich nor visually interesting as It Follows. And aside from Naim and Ryan, none of the other characters get much interesting development.
But my biggest problem with Leviticus is that I found it difficult to root for the relationship after a pretty horrible thing that Naim does early in the film’s runtime. I’m not in the camp that says characters can’t be flaws and can’t do unlikeable things and still be redeemed. But I think Naim’s betrayal was so heinous that I found it difficult to root for him and for the relationship for the entire rest of the film. The fact that I ended up enjoying the film in the end is more a testament to the performances of the actors than it is to the writing of the characters.
While Leviticus didn’t end up being the “instant favorite” I had hoped it would be, it is still a solid queer horror story that is worth a watch for horror fans.
Kat: Thank you to June for giving us a few queer films to the big screen, including Leviticus. With so many GREAT original horror movies hitting theaters almost every month, I’ll be honest I don’t think Leviticus stands up as a horror flick. The scares are limited, and the mythos feels a bit hollow.
I’m not Australian, so I can’t tell you if this is an authentic Australian Christian tale. But as an American who went to Catholic school for over a decade the commentary felt a bit bare. A more by the numbers story than something that felt personal. There are a ton of queer religious stories! So you really have to stand out to not feel repetitive, and sadly Leviticus wasn’t personal enough to grab me on that end of the story.
BUT the chemistry between Ryan and Naim is off the charts. It really saves the movie for me. You truly feel their conflict and desire for each other. If you are looking for more queer content this summer Leviticus is a solid enough watch, but if you’re watching solely as a horror fan this film doesn’t fully deliver.
Girls Like Girls
Kat: I remember when the music video for Girls Like Girls first came out. I was a young queer, who was not fully out to herself, drawn by a story that I had never seen portrayed in that way. Ten years later, Lesbian Jesus, Hayley Kiyoko makes a whole damn movie of her 5 minute short.
I’ll be honest the story is a bit shallow, but as a first time director I was very impressed by Kiyoko’s eye. She’s able to make their relationship “sexy” without it feeling sexualized. It’s a romance about two girls very much from the female gaze, and if you are going to see this movie you should watch it for that alone.
Unlike Leviticus, the chemistry between the two leads was stiff at times, which made it hard to fully connect to the story. With a bigger budget, it would have been nice to see some different settings. One of the leads is a dance competitor, but besides an awkward routine in her room there is no real opportunity to see this shine. If the movie had the space to elevate their personalities individually it would have made for a stronger romance.
Girls Like Girls is far from a perfect film, especially from a scripting stand point, but shows potential in Kiyoko’s future as a director.
*Some Spoilers*
Phil: A movie based on a novel based on a music video. The story of Girls Like Girls has had quite the journey to the big screen. But through the perseverance of the film’s team (particularly Director and Co-Writer Hayley Kiyoko), it has finally made it.
I found Girls Like Girls to be an enjoyable, but not great film. The most remarkable thing about the film is its queerness (we always need more queer films) and its early 2000’s setting (not enough media is set in this transitional time period as the internet was just taking hold of the world).
The relationship at the core of Girls Like Girls is oftentimes charming and compelling, but I wish they’d taken things further and explored their insecurities (and the themes of the film) more deeply than the film does in the final product. While Coley is a strong enough lead and actress Maya de Costa does a solid job playing the character, it felt limiting that we only really got her perspective throughout the film. Co-lead Sonya even disappears for a large stretch of the film at the end, only to very quickly wrap up her arc and hand wave the huge problems that the couple were facing.
Sonya tells Coley (and the audience) that she has changed and is ready to embrace their queer relationship. But we don’t actually get to see it in any meaningful way. We just see Sonya being earnest and free with Coley, which we’ve seen the entire film. Her problem has always been being herself when others are looking. And I’m not convinced by the way the film ended that she has actually overcome that issue. Especially since she isn’t the one who tracks down Coley to make a grand declaration about what she’s learned. They just…run into each other. I would have much rather the screentime in the middle of the film focused more on Sonya and what she needs to learn/overcome in order to win back Coley.
Girls Like Girls may not be a perfect or a remarkable film, but the compelling parts of the relationship at its center are worth seeing for anyone who loves queer storytelling. I think Alison Foreman says it best in her Indie Wire review: “[I]f ‘Girls Like Girls’ gives queer cinephiles an excuse to kiss at the movies in 2026, then Coley and Sonya may have finally accomplished what they set out to do.”
Comics
Let’s discuss some comics we’ve enjoyed recently!
As usual, we’ll spotlight an Indie Book, a DC/Marvel book, a Webcomic, and a Live Kickstarter book!
Indie Comic: Ghost Moon
Kat: I’ve been a fan of Franco’s work since his Tiny Titans days. So when I saw he was collaborating with Scoot McMahon on a Kickstarter superhero comic book I very quickly supported it.
Ghost Moon is very much your classic superhero story - an unlikely civilian gets super powers and now it’s her duty to save her city. I was impressed by how much lore they were able to fit in just one issue, which is even more important for Kickstarter books. You have to hook your audience to want to support MONTHS later, and it’s evident that this veteran creative team already knew how to accomplish that.
I want to learn more about “Ghost Moon” the hero, but the most unique aspect of this comic is seeing how a teacher balances her strenuous job with her new found responsibilities. Franco and McMahon deliver a solid first issue for fans who love classic comics, and have been clamoring for something new.
DC: The Fury of Firestorm
Kat: Let’s be honest, Firestorm isn’t an A-List hero. We’d be lucky to call him a B-Lister. But once upon a time, neither was Green Lantern. It just takes one creative team for a hero to rise the ranks.
Jeff Lemire and Rafael de Latorre are that creative team! The Fury of Firestorm is a love letter for old fans as it takes a deep dive into Firestorm’s lore including characters like Firehawk and old wielders of the Firestorm spectrum. The key of the series’ success is how it balances this mythos with a whole new story that pushes our leads to new depths.
Old and new fans alike truly don’t know what’s going to happen next, and that’s why it’s so fun to delve into C-Listers like Firestorm. You can do anything you want with these characters, and truly progress their story. The Fury of Firestorm doesn’t act like a Superman or Batman book, and that’s why it’s one of the best superhero books on stands.
Web Comic: Tear Me Apart
“When Chloe, a young woman in her late 20s, gets reunited with Hyun-Ah, her childhood best friend, old wounds from the past reopen...Hyun-Ah, who used to be gloomy and reserved, now seems like a totally different person, has she really changed or is she holding resentment towards Chloe? What happened between the two women that made them drift apart?”
Phil: A black-and-white webcomic about former school friends reconnecting in adulthood. Much of the series so far revolves around the mystery of what pulled Chloe and Hyun-Ah apart in high school — with half of the chapters to date taking place in the present day when the two are reconnecting (and Hyun-Ah is acting very differently from how she once did) and in the past when the characters were originally friends in middle and high school.
The pencil-heavy black-and-white art is very striking for the series and gives it a really cool (and dark) visual style. The series is billed as a Thriller and the creator has teased some dark things coming soon in the series. But even before those elements hit the plot, the dark art style adds a layer of intrigue and mystique to the slice of life scenes.
In addition to Thriller, Tear Me Apart is also billed as LGBTQ+. And it’s pretty easy to tell that Chloe and Hyun-Ah were on the path to romance in their flashback scenes. Readers can definitely look forward to seeing exactly what pulled the pair apart in the coming chapters and whether they can recapture the feelings that were beginning to surface when they ceased contact.
Series creator, CielArt01, seems to be a newer creator and this webcomic looks to be their first comic work. While there are some craft items that will undoubtedly be refined over time (such as speech bubble placement), CielArt01 has a keen eye for striking visuals and expressions and delivers super cool and unique art in their first comic outing!
Read “Tear Me Apart” on Webtoon!
Kickstarter: How We Made the Moon Cry
"A Comics & Prose anthology about how the moon may feel about those that adore her."
Phil: Who doesn’t love the moon? That hauntingly beautiful celestial body that is universally important (and enigmatic) in every culture, every aspect of the human experience. The moon has a direct impact on the tides, on human emotion, and often plays a huge role in fiction in everything from the scientific to the supernatural.
So naturally, an anthology that is dedicated to the moon is an attention-grabber straight away. I’m particularly intrigued by an anthology that mixes prose and comics, delivering different mediums of storytelling within the same anthology.
This anthology is Edited by Akira B. who we’ve worked with on multiple projects (The Comic Shop: The Comic, Hairology, Witching Season) and can personally vouch for as a fantastic creator!
Back “How We Made the Moon Cry” here!
In Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed an early look at some covers from our upcoming FAIRY TALE WARS EverAfterVerse Crossover! Be sure to follow the Pre-Launch Page for the project to be notified when we go live in August!
You should also follow the Pre-Launch Page for Sink Your Teeth In #1-2, which launches next Tuesday! And while Bi Visibility: Bi Bi Bi ended yesterday, Late Pledges are still available for our non-campaign-exclusive tiers!
Subscribe above for biweekly updates on our future projects!
Buy Lifeline Comics on our Website!
Current/Upcoming Kickstarters:
Bi Visibility: Bi Bi Bi - A Bisexual Anthology (Ended, Open for Late Pledges)
Sink Your Teeth In #1-2 (Launches 7/07)
Fairy Tale Wars Part 1 (Launches 8/10)
Next Conventions/Prides:
San Diego Pride Festival (San Diego, CA) (7/18-19)
San Diego Comic-Con (San Diego, CA) (7/22-26) (Not Tabling)
Read our Webtoons for FREE:
Slice of Life [GL] (Anime Character x Closeted Cheerleader High School Romance)
Love at Second Bite [BL] (Vampire College Adventure/Romance)